I Know the Purpose of My Life. Do You Know the Purpose of Yours?

What is the purpose of a human life? Does it have meaning? If so, when, how and under what conditions? Can you make your life mean more? Are there people whose existence is completely meaningless? Can life be wasted? How do you discover the purpose of your life? How do you achieve your purpose?

No, I’m not looking to take away Plato’s glory by asking such questions nor is this post an announcement that I’m breaking into the business of writing self-help or philosophy books. But most thinking people who are not brain dead or mentally defective have contemplated at least a couple of these at one point or another.

I have contemplated them all and here is what I have come up with.

The Purpose of Life

Life does have meaning if you give it such. Some people live their entire lives and in the end, their life has been meaningless. Unimportant. Insignificant. Just another dead body pushing up daisys somewhere in death, after consuming oxygen and excreting waste in life. Having lived and died, the earth is no different post-mortem than it was pre-birth. So it is possible to waste your life. So what makes a life have significance and meaning?

I submit that life has meaning when the life in question changes its environment in some lasting way for better or worse during its presence. To qualify, the change must last beyond the expiration of the life in some way and it must affect more than just the life in question. The change need not be earth shattering, make headlines around the world or go down in the history books. There are plenty of unsung contributors to our culture that give us the environment to exist within that we have today.

Furthermore, I submit this is done by the process which I call making a mark.

Making a Mark

One makes his mark on the world by undertaking a series of choices – usually (but not always) conscious ones – to bring about a certain desired outcome. It is true that some people make marks quite by accident. Its possible to make more than one mark, too. This being the case, usually the largest marks one makes are the result of deliberate planning and intentional undertakings.

Case in Point: Adolf Hitler

Come on, you didn’t think I was going to choose a non-controversial character like Mother Theresa, did you? If you did, shame on you! Thats not my style and you should know better. Hitler made several marks on his world and they lasted long after his expiration. His biggest mark is the pools of blood he left in his wake, the result of quite deliberate actions. But one mark he made – most likely without intending to even do so – is to become the poster-child for those who oppose dictatorships and fascism as legitimate or desirable forms of governance. Hitler’s other accomplishments or marks are numerous as they are ghastly.

Hitler was one of the first to do to homosexuals what many desired and thought about doing at the time but had the good sense not to undertake. He certainly did it on a grand scale, too. You can learn more than you likely wanted to know on this topic by clicking here.

Making My Marks

Will – after all is said and done – I make my mark? I think I will. I am pretty damn determined not to live a pointless life. But I guess we wont know for sure, until after I am dead. So if anyone reads this after I have passed. Stop and think about it: did I change the world in any way that extends beyond my death? Might be a good time to think about what you are going with your life, too. What will you be remembered for? Anything?